You Matter
by amessoffand0ms
Summary: Set during "Buried Alive". Grace tells Zoe that even she has noticed something going on between the consultant and her estranged husband-will Zoe listen?


 **A/N**

 **Set when Zoe and Grace are waiting for Connie to come back from the entrapment, after they've found out that she and Jacob are safe.**

 **Reviews welcome,**

 **Laura xxx**

"I'm so happy that Mum's safe." Grace smiled as she and Zoe sat in Connie's office.

"Me too." Zoe smiled. "It was touch and go for a while, but they're on their way home now."

Grace looked down at her tablet screen at the game of solitaire she was playing and moved a card. "How long will they be?"

"About 20 minutes, I should think." Zoe responded.

"Okay." Grace nodded. "You should tell him, Zoe."

"Tell who what?" Zoe frowned.

Grace gazed at the consultant. "You should tell Max that you still love him."

"I don't know what you mean." The consultant fibbed, going red.

"You do. I saw the pair of you talking about Connor... Zoe, the way you were looking at him, even I realized something was going on." The young girl insisted.

The elder sighed. "I suppose." She admitted.

"Look, I don't trust my Mum to fit me, Jacob, and her job into her life. But if you were my Mum, I'd trust you to fit me and Max in as well as your job." Said Grace.

"Really? Oh Grace, that means a lot." Zoe smiled, struggling to hold back tears.

Grace gave her another hug. "Anytime, I mean it."

"Thank you." Responded Zoe, placing a kiss on the top of Grace's head.

A couple of minutes later, Connie rushed in and gave Grace a big hug.

Zoe gazed at the mother and daughter. So much had changed in the 14 and a bit months since Grace had left to go and live with her Dad. She had still messaged Zoe occasionally, and the two had a good relationship. When Connie brought Grace into work with her, Grace had frequently gone to find Zoe if she couldn't find her Mum.

"I'd better be off." Said Zoe, standing up.

Connie caught her arm. "Thank you for looking after Grace, it means a lot."

"Anytime." Said the other woman. "Bye Grace, I'll see you soon, yeah?"

Grace nodded. "Remember what I said."

"I will do." Zoe smiled, and left.

She thought over Grace's words-Max had put her head in a spin today, she didn't seem to matter to him. Deep down, Zoe suspected that she still did.

"Rita, have you seen Max?" She asked the nurse.

"Yeah, I think that he's in the staffroom." The blonde smiled.

"Thank you." Responded Zoe, and went to the staffroom.

"Zoe." He nodded as his estranged wife entered the room.

"Max." She sat at the countertop opposite him. "I need a word."

"If it's about Connor, then-"

"No." She cut him off, placing a hand on top of his where it rested on the table. "It's about us."

"Okay." He replied, taken aback. Zoe looked very nervous.

"I'm sorry for having a go at you earlier, I don't know what I was thinking..."

"I'm sorry too." Said the porter. "You're a consultant, I should have listened to you."

"Max." She said, looking him in the eye. "I need to know something."

"Yes?"

"Do I still matter to you? Because earlier it was like I didn't, and the other day with Connor, the way you were looking at me, it was like I did."

"Oh, Zoe..." He said softly. "Of course you do. It's always you, Zoe. Always."

"I feel the same, Max. It's always you, too." She smiled, slipping her hand into his.

"What's brought all this on, Zo?" He asked with a gentle smile.

"Grace told me that I needed to tell you something..."

"What's that?"

"That I still love you. Even she noticed that." She responded with a chuckle.

"She's very observant, like her mum." Max smiled. "And Zoe, I love you too. So much."

Zoe beamed at him, her smile mile wide.

He stood up and pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.

"I missed that." Said the consultant when they broke apart.

"I did too." Max responded, gazing at her.

Zoe bit her lip. "You know, Grace told me that she doesn't trust her mum to fit Jacob, her job, and her in her life, but if I was her mum, she'd trust me to." She told her husband, struggling to hold back the tears again.

"Shh." Max gently wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb, and gave her a hug. *It's okay, Zoe."

Zoe looked up at him. "I'm going to see how Connie, Grace, and Jacob are doing, would you like to come?"

"Yeah, okay."

The two made their way to the side ward where Connie was. Zoe spotted the clinical lead laying in a bed towards the end. Grace was sitting on a chair beside her.

"Um, shall I wait here?" Max asked.

"Okay. I'll see you in a minute." His wife answered, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Zoe!" Grace said with a smile when she caught sight of the consultant.

"Hello, trouble." She beamed. "Connie, how're you feeling?"

"Fuzzy, in pain." Connie huffed. "They're talking about keeping me in tonight for observation."

"Oh dear..." Zoe sighed. "Well, I'm glad that you're okay, you know."

The clinical lead looked her in the eye and offered her a small smile. "Thank you."

The younger female nodded. "It's quite all right."

"Who's going to look after me?" Grace piped up.

"Well, if your mum doesn't mind, you could stay over at mine if you wanted." Zoe found herself suggesting.

"Is Max going to be there?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think so. Would that be a problem?" The consultant asked.

Grace shook her head. "Nope. I'd like that."

"So you and Max are back on then? For good?" Connie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Mrs Beauchamp, I didn't have you down as a gossip!" Zoe chuckled. "Yes, we are. For good this time."

"I'm happy for you." Her boss responded. "And yes, Grace you can go and stay with Zoe. My spare house keys are in the bottom drawer of my desk in my office, you can go and pick up some stuff."

"Yay!" Grace shouted happily. "Zoe, I know the way to me and mum's house, it's okay."

"That's good." The elder said with a smile. "I'll come and pick you up later, shall I?"

"Okay, in about an hour?" Connie suggested.

Zoe nodded, said her goodbyes, and left.

"So?" Max asked.

"Grace is coming to stay at the apartment tonight. Would you like to come ho-I mean back to flat with me? I'm picking Grace up in about an hour." Answered his wife.

"Of course I'd like to come home- although I don't want to move back in just yet, what with Lofty leaving Robyn and all. You could stay at the student house sometime, maybe?"

"Just like old times, I'd like that. But for now I want to keep us under wraps-Connie and Grace know, but I trust them... Robyn could blab-no offence, or anything..."

"I understand, tonight I'll tell her that I'm staying at a friend's." Max smiled.

"Okay." Zoe responded, wrapping her arms around his waist. "So, Mr Walker how about I drop you off at Robyn's, you grab your stuff, and then we go back home for a bit, and then I go and pick Grace up?"

"Mrs Walker, that sounds perfect." Max beamed.

"Good." Zoe smiled, kissing him.

A while later...

"Grace, are you ready to go?" Zoe asked her. She had dropped Max off at theirs after they had gone to Robyn's to get some of Max's things.

"Yeah." Replied Grace, switching her tablet off and standing up.

Connie was asleep, her daughter gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mum." She said quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Come on." Zoe held her hand out for Grace to take. "Let's go."

Grace took her hand. "Okay."

Zoe got the keys from Connie's office and the pair made their way to the car park.

Grace directed Zoe to her and her mum's house.

"Wow, this is nice." Said Zoe, pulling up on the driveway.

"It's not very homely." Grace responded. "Although it's nicer than it was last year." She decided.

"Ah." The consultant replied as they got out of her Audi TT.

"Can I let us in?" The younger female asked.

Zoe handed her the house keys. "Of course, it's your home after all."

The two stepped inside.

Zoe gazed around. The house was pristine, extremely tidy.

In contrast, Zoe and Max's flat was usually quite untidy. Of course, Max was the one who made it that way- Zoe always used to shout at him for it- she knew that there was no point in tidying up because he'd just make it messy again!

Latterly, after the wedding, Zoe kept the flat tidy at first, but after that she didn't bother tidying it up- in an odd way, it reminded her of her husband.

The consultant shook herself out of her daze, and realised that Grace was gone- she'd obviously gone upstairs to get her things. Zoe sat down on one of the white leather sofas in the living room to wait for her.

A text came through on her phone. It read: "Hi Spiderman, I'm thinking of ordering us pizza for tea, ask Grace what her favourite is. You'll have your usual, pineapple and ham right? MJ xxx."

Zoe grinned down at her phone. "Grace!" She called.

"Yeah?"

"Max is getting us pizza for tea, what's your favourite?"

"Chicken and mushroom, please. With stuffed crust." Grace called back.

"Who says that you're having stuffed crust, cheeky?" Zoe laughed. "Okay, I'll tell him."

"Hello Mary Jane, yes I'll have ham and pineapple please. Grace's favourite pizza is chicken and mushroom with stuffed crust. I love you and I'll see you soon. Spiderman xxx." The consultant text her husband back.

"I'm ready to go." Said Grace a few minutes later, entering the living room. She was holding a heavy-looking blue overnight bag.

"Here, hand me that, I'll carry it." Zoe said, standing up and holding her hand out.

"Okay, here you are." The young girl handed her the bag. To Zoe's relief, it was lighter than it looked.

"Wow, you live here?" Grace asked in awe a while later when Zoe drew up outside the block of flats.

"Yeah, me and Max do." Zoe grinned.

"The view from your flat must be really nice." Smiled the younger female.

"Yeah, you can have a look in the morning-you won't be able to see very much now." Replied the consultant, opening her car door. "Come on."

They got out of the car and went upstairs to Zoe and Max's flat. Zoe made to look in her bag for her keys, but then realized that Max was there, so knocked on the front door instead.

"Hello, hello." Said Max, opening the door.

"Good evening." Grinned his wife.

"Good evening, Mrs Walker, Miss Beauchamp." Max smiled, making Zoe beam and Grace giggle. "If you'd like to come inside..."

The table was laid with 3 places set. Max took Zoe and Grace's coats off them and took Grace's overnight bag to the spare room.

"Thank you, Max." Smiled Grace. "Is my tea on the table?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Max smiled.

Grace hurried to the table, sat down, and began to eat-she was ravenous.

"You okay?" Max asked his wife.

"Yeah." The female replied, giving him a quick kiss. "You're great with her, you know." She said, nodding to Grace.

"She's a lovely kid." Max responded. "Thank you."

"That she is." Zoe said, smiling as Max pulled her close and cuddled her. "C'mon, let's go and have something to eat." She continued, pulling her husband towards the table.

The three of them enjoyed themselves, laughing and joking together like a family. Zoe and Max really got on with Grace, the young girl found herself relaxing. They were a lot more easy-going than her mum.

"So, d'you want to watch a film or something?" Zoe asked Grace when they'd all finished their tea.

"Um, okay. If you have Netflix, can we see if the first Princess Diaries film is on there?" Grace asked.

"Yes, we do. I'm pretty sure that that's on there, I love that film!" Smiled Zoe.

They sat down on the sofa in front of the large TV and Zoe got the remote. "I apologise if this takes me a little while, Max usually puts it on for me, I'm not very good with this!"

Zoe managed to put the film on without calling Max, who had kindly offered to do the washing up.

Grace cuddled into Zoe, yawning. Zoe hesitated for a moment before putting her arm around Grace, smiling at her show of affection. The two had formed a bond back when Connie had just brought Grace out of boarding school-Zoe was overjoyed to see that it hadn't been forgotten.

Max took the scene in, a smile on his face. Underneath the hardness of her smart consultant exterior, Zoe was maternal and caring- a total ball of soppiness, at times (she cried at Marley and Me.)

He sat down next to his wife, not wanting to disturb her and Grace.

Zoe smiled at him. "Okay?" She mouthed.

He nodded.

"Good." Zoe smiled, before turning her attention back to the film.

After the film ended, Grace went to bed.

"I'll go and make sure that she's brushed her teeth and everything in a minute." Said Zoe, snuggling into Max.

"Okey doke." Her husband smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "You've really bonded with her, haven't you?"

Zoe nodded. "She's really sweet."

"That's lovely to see. You know Zoe, you're a complete natural with her. Despite that hard exterior of yours, you're lovely underneath." Chuckled Max.

"I know I am." Zoe grinned. "Thank you."

"Not modest, are you?" He laughed.

"Nope, you know me!" Said his wife, getting up. "I'll go and check on her."

"See you in a minute." Said Max.

"You okay?" Zoe said, entering the spare room.

Grace was sat in front of the mirror in her PJs, brushing her long hair. "Yeah, I just need to do this then I'll go to bed-I promise."

"It's okay." The elder answered.

Grace finished brushing her hair and snuggled into bed.

"Night night." Zoe smiled, giving her a hug. "If you need anything in the night, just knock on the door, okay?"

"OK." Grace responded. "Zoe, thank you for always being there for me when my mum wasn't. It means a lot."

"That's okay, it means a lot to me too." Said the other female, standing up. She switched off the bedroom light. "Goodnight, Grace."

"Goodnight, Zoe."

 **The End :) x**


End file.
